Takaoka gets its luxury quarter: a small peninsula with a dramatic cliff, roads laid along the contour lines, prime plots for level 5 estates chosen with Find It and placed by hand, a mix of zoned and individual lots, a new city beach (three within reach), greener autumn vegetation — and the first custom-designed building site on the map.
What happens in this episode
The last episode extended the coal industry in the north of Takaoka, and it included my first fully custom detail on the map: a small building site with a blocked road that stops drivers heading onto the highway. Passenger and freight trains still run on separate lines, which I keep that way whenever the map allows. Train traffic jams can be as painful as road traffic, as I remember from the first game.
Episode 16 builds the luxury quarter I’d been planning: a small peninsula with mostly large low-density estates and a few mid-rises, connected to downtown.
How it was built
Reading the terrain
The topography contour lines show where the land rises. The plan is to keep as much of the natural landscape as possible, especially a small cliff that I even extended closer to the shoreline for more dramatic views. The road network follows the terrain up the hill, leaving several prime plots for large houses.
Choosing the houses
Find It is perfect for research: filter by theme, lot width and depth, and level 5, so the houses won’t change after placement. I love how the pack’s houses are designed. The most important plots are placed by hand; others grow from regular zoning so the district develops naturally. Some lots are left empty on purpose. A few playgrounds go in for kids. I wish the pack included splash parks. The shoreline edges come out harsh where the land meets sea level, and the surface tool softens them.
An update and a smoother game
A new game update fixed a problem with hearses piling up, which turned out to be a base-game issue. After some back and forth with my system settings, the game ran and looked much better.
Greener in autumn
Autumn had turned the peninsula brown, so I mixed tree variants to keep it greener: evergreens and other varieties placed with Anarchy where needed. The city still didn’t have a name, so I asked viewers for something that sounds a little Japanese.
A city beach
A new small beach serves the residents, with three beaches within reach of the district now. A wall to separate the top-tier houses didn’t work with the pillars I tried, so stones form the edge instead. It rained on Takaoka for the first time, and I switched back to summer, because building is easier then.
Individual lots
A handful of individually placed houses among the standard zoned ones makes the area look far less like a game default. Just a few extra lots give the district its own character. The population barely grew, but that wasn’t the point. A few small offices let residents start their own businesses. I was very pleased with how this wealthier district stepping down from downtown turned out.
Video chapters
- 00:00The first custom building site, separate rail lines
- 04:47Contour lines and the road layout
- 19:33Choosing level 5 estates with Find It
- 30:18Footpaths, playgrounds and harsh shorelines
- 35:48A game update and system tweaks
- 58:00Mixing tree colours for autumn
- 62:37A new city beach and a wall that didn't work
- 72:40Individual lots for a custom look
Clicking a chapter starts the video above at that point.
FAQ
How do you build a luxury residential area in Cities: Skylines 2?
Use the terrain: keep cliffs and views, lay roads along the contour lines and reserve the best plots. Filter Find It for level 5 low-density houses on large lots (they won't change after placement), place the key estates by hand and let the rest grow from zoning.
Why keep passenger and freight trains on separate lines?
Train traffic can jam just like road traffic. Separating freight from passenger lines, where the map allows it, avoids most of those problems.
Why do my trees look brown in autumn?
Seasons change the foliage. I mix in evergreen and other tree variants so an area stays greener all year.